Film Love: Mauricio Kagel’s Two-Man Orchestra

Mauricio Kagel (1931-2008) was a German-Argentine avant-garde composer who made films of performances of his compositions. Two-Man Orchestra (Zwei-Mann-Orchester) features two men contained within giant contraptions that contain over 250 instruments.

Completely encased in these massive machines, the performers must use every part of their body — fingers, feet, legs, heads, et. al. — to “play” their instruments. As Film Love describes, “the performers evoke everything from Charlie Chaplin to circus music to complete atonality in a virtuoso physical and musical feat.”

Underground Film Feedback (1 comment)

How would I get the film two man orch of the kagel piece?I have many unreleased kagel films and other unreleased audio/video to trade and have restricted relationships not to make copies w the artists I videotape or collect with.
Harris